


The Best-Laid Plans (Often Go Awry)

by ragdoll-hux (sparkinthedark)



Series: Gingerpilot Week [2]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Amnesia, Amnesiac Armitage Hux, Brain Damage, Crying, Gen, M/M, Memory Loss, Poe Dameron has a crush, Serious Injuries, space ship crash, talk of the death penality, terrible plans are terrible
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-06
Updated: 2018-05-06
Packaged: 2019-05-03 02:11:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,016
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14558574
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sparkinthedark/pseuds/ragdoll-hux
Summary: The resistance had formulated a plan to capture General Hux. They lured him to a nearby planet, knocked his shuttle out of the sky, and recovered him from the wreckage. What they weren't expecting, however, was to get him back to their base only to find that he had completely lost his memory.





	The Best-Laid Plans (Often Go Awry)

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was written for Day 2 of [Gingerpilot week](https://general-of-gringrotts.tumblr.com/post/172794863168/as-a-friendly-reminder-of-gingerpilot-week-5th) on Tumblr.

General Hux was heading back to the Finalizer on his personal shuttle after he had successfully negotiated the planet's surrender, when it happened. The shuttle was flying smoothly, and Hux was in one of his very rare good moods, when suddenly the shuttle rocked and the deafening sound of metal scraping against metal echoed around the ship. The emergency lighting came on, the alarms blaring, and Hux jumped to his feet. They had just been rammed by another ship. Before he could even make it out of his cabin the ship smashed into them again, and Hux was thrown to the floor by the impact.

It took him a few moments to regain awareness of his surroundings, and that's when he heard a second alarm. He knew what it meant immediately, and his heart sank; it was the decompression alert. Hux scrambled to his feet and pushed activated the door panel, and a large warning came up. 

_ATMOSPHERE LOSS IN NEXT COMPARTMENT. PRESSURE DOOR SEALED._

He was trapped. The automatic systems had locked down his cabin in response to a hull breach, which probably meant his crew were already dead. With his shuttle in pieces and no way to control it, he would crash onto the planet. Hux always knew that one day he would go down with his ship, but trapped in a cabin on his tiny shuttle was not how he had imagined it. The only thing he could do now was brace for impact and hope he got lucky enough to survive. 

\--

“Commander, he's waking up!”

“About time,” Poe replied, giving the messenger a smile. He turned back to his squad and excused himself from the conversation, then headed off to the medbay. Their prisoner had been barely alive when they had retrieved him from the wreckage, and he had needed a lot of medical attention. For safety reasons they had cleared out a whole room for the prisoner, stationed guards to watch him, and once he was stable, they cuffed him to his bed.

When Poe entered the room the two guards saluted him, and he got a look at the war criminal, the vicious General Hux, in the flesh for the first time. Something about him seemed off however; he didn't look angry, or smug, or disgusted, like Poe had expected. No, he looked scared, and maybe even a little confused. He had a bandage around his head, and his hair stuck up wildly in the gap at the top. Other signs of injury were also visible; more bandages around his left hand, and bruising across part of his face. Poe felt a sudden surge of guilt, but quickly quashed it.

“So nice of you to stop by, Hugs,” Poe said. He was trying to get a rise out of him, but he just looked at him blankly. “What, no snappy comeback?”

Again, he was greeted with silent confusion. Something was definitely wrong. “You don't know who I am, do you?”

Hux shook his head. 

“Do you know why you're here?” Poe continued.

Another shake of Hux's head. Poe turned to one of the guards. “Can you get the doc back in here?” he asked. The soldier saluted, then left to get the doctor. This was very puzzling. Had the crash damaged him memory, or was this just a strategy to get out of answering Poe’s questions.

A moment later the guard returned with Doctor Kalonia in toe. “How can I help you, Commander?” She asked.

“I think our prisoner here is having a little trouble remembering things, could this be from his injuries?” Poe asked.

“It's possible, yes. We relieved the cranial swelling as soon as possible, but there was always a chance that he would sustain a brain injury.”

Poe hummed and stroked his chin while he considered what the doctor had said. “Will it come back?” 

“Brains are strange things, Dameron, so we can never be sure. With the right stimuli he could regain his memories at any moment, or they could never come back. Either case is just as likely as the other.” 

“E-excuse me,” Hux interrupted in a small voice. They both turned around to look at the prisoner, who was looking even more scared than before. “What happened to me?”

Poe sighed and pulled up a chair so he could sit next to Hux's bed, and a pair of grey-green eyes watched him curiously. “Your shuttle crash landed on this planet,” Poe explained. “You were seriously injured when we pulled you from the wreckage, so we brought you here to treat you.”

“So why am I- why am I?” Hux lifted his hands and pulled pitifully against his handcuffs that secured him to the bed. Poe couldn't believe this, was he actually starting to feel sorry for General Hux? Poe dragged his hand through his hair as he considered how to respond.

“It seems that your injuries are more serious than we intended-” Damn that was a slip of the tongue. “-than we expected,” Poe corrected. It wouldn't do for Hux to find out that the resistance had engineered the accident. That they had forced his shuttle out of the sky using a droid-piloted ship as a battering ram. No, that would be most unhelpful at this moment. 

Hux looked alarmed, so Poe went on. “You have lost a lot of your memories, and we don't know if they’ll come back. I’m afraid I have to tell you that you're a war criminal.”

Hux’s eyes widened, and he gasped in shock. Poe felt his heart clench at his reaction; clearly this was news to the amnesiac General. He couldn't imagine waking up without his memories, imprisoned for reasons he couldn't remember, to be told he was a war criminal. But no, this was the Starkiller, a genocidal fascist, and murderer of billions; there was no room for sympathy. 

“Oh kriff, what did I do? I don't remember!” Hux exclaimed. Poe was shocked to see that Hux was starting to cry, his slim body shaking in the hospital gown.

“We don't need to talk about that now,” Poe insisted. He was already struggling with the desire to comfort him, and telling him about the Hosnian system would only make it worse. “Right now we need to concentrate on getting you healthy, and hopefully your memories will come back.”

Hux let out a quiet little sob and tried to bury himself further into his bed; tears staining his cheeks. Poe couldn't resist patting his arm as he got up, then accompanied the doctor out of the room. “I better talk to Leia,” Poe told her. 

“Good idea. It doesn't look like we’ll be getting any intel out of our prisoner any time soon.” Doctor Kalonia gave him a hurried salute, then rushed off to deal with her other patients. Poe pinched the bridge of his nose to try and alleviate his headache, and went to find Leia.

“General, we have a problem,” Poe announced as he entered the command centre. Leia was busy talking to another Commander, but she quickly excused herself and came over to Poe. 

“What kind of problem? Is he not talking?” Leia asked.

“No, it's not that. Doctor Kalonia tells me that he has a brain injury,” Poe told her. Leia sighed; obviously disappointed.

“So he _can't_ speak, is what you're telling me?” Leia asked. Poe looked pained, and shook his head. Leia rolled her eyes. “Well out with it, Dameron.”

“He doesn't remember anything. I don't think he even knows who he is.” 

“Well that's going to complicate things.”

“I know, we won't get anything useful out of him now. Unless his memories come back.”

“Is that likely?” 

“Doc says it's possible, but likely? Well, you’ll have to ask her.” 

“Damnit. The remaining New Republic politicians, the ones who were off planet during the attack, they want the Starkiller’s head. There's only so long I can keep them off him.”

“You’ve gotta be kidding me, they want to kill him?” Poe asked, incredulous. “I thought they didn't believe in the death penalty!”

“Extreme circumstances,” Leia told him calmly. 

“I can't believe this!”

“Poe, keep your voice down will you?” Leia said, as she gave him that stare that always made him wither. “Remember what he did. If anyone deserves it, it's him.”

“But I-” Poe cut himself off and groaned; remembering who he was defending. He really was a sucker for people who were suffering; damn his stupid big heart. “I guess you're right. As usual.”

Leia gave him a sad smile and squeezed his arm in an encouraging manner. “Keep him where he is for now, and work with our doctor to see if we can't jog his memory. Pictures of his known associates might help, footage of his propaganda, things like that.”

“Okay, good idea.”

“Dismissed.” Poe gave her a salute, then left the command centre, and tried to ignore the relief he was feeling that Hux would not be turned over to the New Republic, at least for now. 

\--

Later that day Poe went back to Hux's hospital room, armed with all the intel on General Hux the resistance had ever collected, and the General’s tattered greatcoat. The idea of showing this traumatized version of Hux what he had done was making him feel a little nervous. Would it really make him remember? Or would it bring him to tears again? If it was the latter, then Poe didn't think he could handle it. This soft spot for vulnerable men was going to get him into trouble one day. 

“So, how's our guest this afternoon?” Poe asked as he entered the room; putting on a cheerful tone. Hux looked utterly miserable, but not as scared as before, which was something.

“I thought I was your prisoner,” Hux replied glumly. 

Poe shrugged. “Eh, bit of both.” He looked over at the guards, who had seemed to have relaxed a lot since this morning. Poe couldn't blame them; Hux didn't exactly look like a threat at the moment. “You mind waiting outside guys?”

“Yes, Sir,” they replied in unison, then left the room.

“That's better,” Poe sighed. He pulled up a chair and sat next to the bed again. “Now we can talk.”

“I already told you, I don't remember anything,” Hux said. He wouldn't even make eye contact with him.

“That's okay,” Poe said. “How are you feeling?”

“Apart from the complete loss of my memory? I feel like I was in a shuttle crash.”

“Can't argue with that,” Poe said, and gave him a sympathetic smile. “Hey, I didn't even tell you my name, did I?”

Hux shook his head.

“I’m Poe, Poe Dameron.”

“And what's _my_ name?” Hux asked. 

“You are Armitage Hux, and you’re a military General for an organisation called The First Order.” Poe unfolded Hux’s greatcoat and laid it out on the bed so he could get a good look at it. “This is part of your uniform.”

Hux leaned forward to inspect the item; but Poe didn't spot any signs of recognition in his expression. He supposed it was too much to hope that something as simple as that would be enough. “I’ve never seen that before in my life,” Hux told him honestly.

“Okay, no problem. I’m going to show you a few holos now, and see if anything jogs your memory.” Hux nodded, so Poe brought up the first holo on his datapad, which was of Kylo Ren. “Know who this is?”

Hux looked very closely for a few moments, as if he really wanted to remember. “I’ve got no idea. He looks mean though.”

Poe couldn't help but chuckle at that. “Well you're not wrong. This is Kylo Ren; your boss.” Hux wrinkled his face in disgust at that. “He’s the Supreme Leader of The First Order, he killed the previous leader and took over a few months ago.”

Hux shrugged, so Poe brought up the second holo; one of Hux's most trusted Lieutenants. “Who is that?” Hux asked. He seemed a lot more interested in this holo. 

“This is Lieutenant Mitaka, he was your subordinate, and from what we can tell your two were quite close.”

“Was? Did you say was?” Hux asked.

“I’m afraid so. Kylo Ren killed him.” Hux gasped at that. “We aren't sure why, but Ren has always had a temper; he probably gave him some news he didn't like.”

“That beast!” Hux scoffed. If Poe could assume one thing from this talk, it was that General Hux did not like Kylo Ren. Not particularly helpful now, but still interesting.

The next thing he showed Hux was not a holo, as they had never been able to find any images of Snoke before. No, this was a digital recreation, made with the help of their resident Jedi, Rey. She was the only one in the whole of the resistance to ever see his face, and she confirmed to them the image was accurate. “This is the previous Supreme Leader; Snoke.”

“Ugh, he's hideous! I really worked under that?” 

“I’m afraid so. You really don't recognise him?” 

“No, no I don't. This isn't working, Poe,” Hux said. He sounded as frustrated as Poe felt. The next holo to show him was the one of Starkiller Base; the base that Hux had used to kill billions. 

“This is Starkiller Base. It's what you’re most famous for,” Poe explained. Again, Hux didn't seem to recognise it. “This is going to be a shock to you, but I have to tell you.”

Hux's eyes darted up at Poe, and he looked nervous again. Poe had already told him that he was a war criminal, so he must have known that now was the time he was going to find out why. Poe took a deep, steadying breath, and continued. 

“It was a battle station, and a weapon. It could harness the power of an entire star, and use that energy for unquantifiable levels of destruction,” Poe informed him. Hux’s breathing had increased, and it seemed like he was going to start panicking. But Poe had to carry on. “You gave the order to unleash it on our government's home system, and destroyed four planets.”

For a moment Hux looked stunned, as if he were unable to comprehend what Poe had just told him. Then all of a sudden he crumbled. “Oh kriff, oh kriff,” he gasped; curling up on himself as best he could while still handcuffed to the bed. “How- h-how could I do s-such a thing? I feel sick.” 

“We’ve been asking ourselves the same question since it happened,” Poe said, not unkindly. It was becoming increasingly clear that this Hux was not the same man that gave that order; not anymore.

“How many did I kill?” Hux sobbed.

“It's hard to say exactly… billions.”

That was the final straw; Hux broke down, sobbing in earnest. “I don't remember, I don't remember,” Hux wailed. “Why am I still here? Why haven't you killed me?” He was thrashing around now, and he almost dislodged the bandages around his head.

“Easy, easy,” Poe said calmly, as he held Hux still. “Your going to hurt yourself.”

“Why do you care? You should have me executed!” Hux tried to shrug Poe off him, but he was still too weak from his injuries to make a difference.

“Armitage, listen to me,” Poe said sternly, and Hux stopped for a moment to look at him. “The fact that you’re horrified by what you did proves that you aren't that person anymore. The man that ordered Starkiller to fire thought what he was doing was justified. You clearly don't.”

“Poe, I don't want to die, but why should I live when I killed so many?” Hux was serious about this, and it was hurting Poe more than it should.

“I’ll talk to my boss in the morning, and see what I can do. Nothing will happen to you until then, I promise.”

\--

The next morning Poe went to find Leia. He didn't know what he was expecting from her, but whatever it was, it wasn't this. 

“But Leia, how can you sentence someone to death for something they don't even remember doing!” Poe protested. “He's not that person anymore. He's scared, and confused, and alone.”

“It's the New Republic that's sentenced him, not me,” Leia insisted. “But I think you’ve got too close to this, Poe. Whether he remembers it or not, he still did it.”

“I know, I know, but my gut tells me that this is wrong. You must feel that too, right? I mean, we did this to him.” Poe felt sick; he could not in good conscience let this happen.

“Well, what do you suggest? We can't let him go. We’ll lose every bit of credibility we have. Plus, sometime down the line he could remember. The doctor says it could happen. What then?” Poe could see that Leia was as conflicted too; although maybe not as much as Poe was.

“We could keep him here. Not as a prisoner, but as someone who could help us. He's repulsed by what he and The First Order did, and I bet he'd help us given half the chance.” 

“What if he ran away?” Leia asked. “It's very risky.” 

“We’ll keep an eye on him, and if he tries to run away even once, we can hand him over to the New Republic,” Poe said

Leia stroked her chin in thought; considering Poe's suggestion. “That would mean we still have him if he does ever remember anything, and his skills may be helpful. That's if he’ll agree to help us.”

“I truly believe he’ll help.”

“I admire your optimism, Poe.” Leia took a deep breath, and stood up from her desk. “All right, Dameron, this plan of yours is crazy, but it just might work. I’ll make the arrangements, and you talk to our guest.”

“Thank you so much, you won't regret this!” Poe wanted to hug her, but he restrained himself. 

“That remains to be seen,” Leia replied with a deep sigh.

**Author's Note:**

> Leave me a comment if you liked it. Or follow me on [Tumblr](http://ragdoll-hux.tumblr.com) for more ficlets and general nonsense.


End file.
